The Association were the most technically accomplished vocal harmony group of the 60s (and that includes the Beach Boys). They enjoyed chart success with a string of hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic, including Time for Livin', Windy and Never My Love, but suffered from an early clean-cut image that led to the description "too hip for the square and too square for the hip" – although they were cool enough to open the Monterey pop festival.

They made several excellent albums, notably Insight Out (1967) and Birthday (1968), from which this track (a US hit single) is taken. All six (later seven) members of the Association were fine musicians and singers and at times, as here, the harmonies are spine-tingling. The immaculate production is by Bones Howe, the king of sunshine pop, and as with much of the band's work, the song is intricately arranged and builds to a stunning climax.

I love the recorder that weaves in and out of Terry Kirkman's lead vocal in the first verse, and the way the backing vocals chime like a bell, echoed by the trumpet in the final verse. You sense something special is about to happen … and that's when the stunning "everything is love" coda comes in. As the critic Lilian Roxon memorably wrote, the Association sang like a rugged heavenly choir.